


At the Zoo

by EnthusiasticFish



Category: NCIS
Genre: Drama, Gen, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnthusiasticFish/pseuds/EnthusiasticFish
Summary: This is a bizarre two-shot I wrote when the idea popped into my head. It took a few hours, tops. Before you ask, no it's not a crack!fic although it probably seems like it. If the first chapter boggles your mind, hang in there, the second will probably help. Maybe.
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**At the Zoo  
** by Enthusiastic Fish

**Chapter 1**

He was so tired.

There was a pounding, pounding in his chest.

The swirl of images finally calmed and he stumbled forward. What he could see was better than what he hadn't been able to see before.

...but what he could see was bad enough.

He was stuck in the middle of the ocean, sharks swimming around him, herding him to his doom. One of the sharks snapped at him and he shrieked.

Suddenly, the shark started to laugh.

" _We're ready. Are you?"_

"Don't eat me!" he pled.

The shark laughed at him again and forced him to continue walking forward.

He got closer and closer to his final destination and found that, more and more, he knew the sharks were going to eat him. They were laughing to each other, laughing _at_ him. They thought he was completely at their mercy.

No. He wasn't. He was walking on water! He could get away. They were stuck _in_ the water. All he had to do was start running and get away from their teeth. He started to watch for an opening in the swirling fins around him.

After a few minutes, he saw it, a gap. They weren't even looking at him. They were just laughing and thinking it was funny.

He pushed through the gap and rolled painfully, but he pushed the pain away and started to run.

He started to run.

The laughter stopped and the sharks were coming after him.

He ran and ran and ran.

One of the sharks leapt out of the water and got its teeth into his back, but he screamed, turned and ripped the teeth out of his back and then stabbed the shark with its own teeth. That gave him a rush of satisfaction, but he didn't stay and gloat. He started running again, although the teeth hurt him.

He ran and ran and ran.

Pounding in his chest.

He was so tired.

Then, he decided it might be better to dive underneath the water. The sharks could easily pick him out when he was running on the water.

Decision made, he dove into the water...

...and suddenly, everything changed. He wasn't in the ocean anymore. He didn't know what had happened, but the water was really cold and it didn't feel like the ocean. It wasn't salty for one thing.

He couldn't see the sharks, either. There were people far above him, pointing down. How did they get up there?

He tried to get back on top of the water, but he couldn't. The water was flowing too fast...but why? He couldn't figure it out.

Then, a big bird flew down from the sky and plucked him out of the cold, rushing water.

He was so tired.

" _Are you all right, sir?"_ it asked him.

"The sharks," he said. "I need to get away from the sharks! They're going to eat me!"

" _Sharks? In the river?"_

Then, a shark tooth buried itself in the ground.

"See?" he screamed. "The sharks!"

He got to his feet and could run on the water again. He left the bird behind. It was too hard to explain why the sharks were going to eat him. The waves went high and he had to climb them, but he didn't stop.

He could faintly hear the bird calling after him, but he didn't listen. Instead, he kept running, but there was a lot more noise than he had expected, and there were gusts of wind blowing by him.

Really fast-moving things on either side of him. His chest was still pounding. He could feel it in his head, even.

Whales?

No. Whales didn't come out of the water like this.

Boats, maybe? Yes, they could be boats, but they were full of noise and shouting.

Fish inside the boats! Lots of fish. Different sizes and shapes and colors. There were fish everywhere!

Maybe they'd been sent by the sharks.

There were more fish. More and more of them.

Suddenly, there were bright lights. Maybe it was a buoy. Maybe he could be safe there...but no, no, the sharks could surround him on a buoy and a buoy wasn't big enough to get him out of their hands.

He was so tired.

Suddenly, a mass of dogs.

Dogs. How were they running on the ocean? Were they dangerous?

They were shouting things at him.

" _Sir, stop where you are! Put down the gun!"_

The words made no sense...except one that was repeated a lot.

" _Stop!"_

"The sharks are after me!" he cried out to the dogs. "They're going to eat me! They're throwing their teeth at me! I have one of them here! See?"

He held out the tooth.

For a moment, the tooth didn't look like a tooth. It didn't feel like one, either.

Then, the dogs bared their teeth and leapt at him.

He screamed and tried to run, but there were so many of them. They took the tooth from him and forced him onto the strangely hard surface of the ocean. But it might give way and he needed to breathe!

"I don't want to drown!" he cried out. "Don't eat me!"

" _We're not going to eat you, sir. Calm down!"_

"Don't let the sharks eat me!"

He was dragged to his feet and pulled closer and closer to the flashing lights. The dogs weren't letting him keep running and who knew when the sharks would show up again? The lights were pretty colors, but he'd suddenly realized that he'd misplaced his arms.

How could he lose his arms...unless...

"You ate my arms!" he screeched. "You ate my arms!"

He started fighting the dogs. He tried to pull away from the dogs, but they wouldn't let him go. He couldn't fight against the dogs.

Who was worse? The dogs or the sharks?

He was suddenly in a confined space.

"You're working with them, aren't you!" he said to the dogs in the front.

" _With who?"_

"You're working with the sharks! You ate my arms and now you're going to give the rest of me to them! You ate my arms!"

" _What do you think? Psycho, drug addict or something else?"_

" _Not our call."_

" _He's certainly nuts right now."_

He couldn't understand what they were saying. He tried to push himself out of the confined space, but he was stopped. Where was the water? What was all that movement through the hard thing he could see through? He started throwing himself against it. Why couldn't he get through? He banged his head against the hard see-through thing.

" _Hey! Stop that!"_

"I don't want the sharks to eat me!" he screamed. "Don't give me to the sharks! Don't give me to them!"

Who was safe in this world? The sharks were after him. The dogs had him now. There was that bird that had pulled him out of the strange cold water. Other birds... He remembered a golden one.

"Take me to the eagles!" he shouted. "Eagles! The golden eagles!"

" _Eagles? What's he raving about now?"_

" _He thinks we ate his arms. I don't think there's much even_ he _knows right now."_

He tried to stand up, but he hit his head on the top of the enclosed space.

He was so tired.

Then, the blur outside the hard see-through thing stopped.

" _Okay, sir, don't give us any trouble. Just come on. We're going to help you."_

He struggled against them as they pulled him out of the space and out somewhere else.

"Don't eat me!"

" _We're not going to eat you, for..."_

" _Don't let him get to you. He's not in control of himself right now."_

"Eagles! Golden eagles!" he shouted. "Help!"

Another animal. He could see them.

"Seals! Yes, seals! They're in the ocean, too! They can get away from the sharks! The sharks don't scare them! Don't let the sharks eat me!"

" _We've got a guy here who was running down the George Washington Memorial Parkway with a gun, screaming about sharks."_

" _Oh, yes. We were told he was coming. All right. Let's get him back into a room."_

He was pulled into a room and suddenly his arms were back. How was that possible? The dogs had taken them.

There was no more water. There was nothing except light. Maybe the sharks couldn't find him here. Maybe the eagles were here.

"Eagles!"

Eagles were in the light, in the sky, away from the water.

"Eagles!"

He was alone for a time and then there was someone there with him. Another bird. A robin. Maybe this bird would be safe. He was wary, but he was willing to take the chance.

"No sharks?" he asked.

" _No. No sharks here."_

"Where did the water go? Where's the ocean?"

He could almost see more than he could see.

" _It's outside where it should be. What's your name?"_

"The sharks are after me. I got away because they forgot I could run on the water."

" _Good for you. What's your name?"_

"I need the eagles," he said. That was important. "I need the golden eagles! Where are they?"

" _Who are the eagles? Do they have names?"_

That question confused him. Names. What did that mean? There was a layer of something else behind the light. He started looking around. The pounding got louder and he was afraid.

" _He definitely confused. He's rather gaunt, too, and shaking. There's some meaning behind these eagles and sharks. I'm sure of that much. I just don't know what it is."_

He was worried now. Things could go back again and he didn't want that.

"I don't want the sharks to eat me! Don't let the sharks eat me! Keep the dogs away! They took my arms!"

He started to try getting up, but there were things on his arms. More claws. He started screaming. What would be eaten this time?

"No! Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

" _Let him go! Let him go. No one's going to eat you, sir. I promise. Stay calm and everything will be all right."_

The claws vanished and the bird stayed back away from him. He pulled back until he hit a hard surface behind him. Nothing approached him. No sharks, dogs or birds of prey.

"I don't want the sharks to get me."

" _Okay. No sharks."_

"Keep the dogs away."

" _Okay."_

"No eagles here?"

" _Not so far as I know."_

"You're not an eagle."

" _No."_

There was silence and he looked around at the light. Still that strange layer behind the light.

"The sharks threw their teeth at me, but I got one myself and I got him back."

" _He had a gun and said it was a tooth."_

" _Did you get shot, sir?"_

"They threw their teeth at me. One of them got out of the ocean and...and he attacked me, but I pulled out his tooth and stabbed him with it."

" _Did the teeth hit you?"_

He nodded.

"Yeah."

" _Can I see?"_

He wasn't sure he wanted this bird closer to him, but all the birds had been nice to him so far.

"No claws."

" _Okay."_

He nodded slowly.

The bird came closer and seemed almost like a person. He tensed as the bird touched him, but it wasn't a claw.

"You're not a bird?"

" _Not last I checked. I'm a person, just like you. This might hurt a little. I'll try to be as gentle as I can."_

He was turned to the side slightly.

" _Would you let me take off your shirt?"_

He shrugged. The bird/not-bird took off his shirt.

" _Sir, what happened?"_

"The sharks. They're after me. Sharks. Lots of them. I had to run on the water to get away, but they're everywhere."

" _We need to do a full battery of tests here. Who knows what's in his bloodstream?"_

He stood where he was, losing track of what the bird was saying again.

" _Sir, who are you?"_

"Me. I'm me."

" _What do other people call you? ...what do the eagles call you?"_

He didn't know how to answer that.

Suddenly, one of the dogs was there. He tensed. Pounding.

" _Doctor..."_

" _What?"_

" _There's a BOLO out for him. He's a federal agent. Tim McGee?"_

It was a dog. Another dog. He pulled back against the wall.

"Don't eat my arms!" he whimpered.

" _Tim?"_

That was the bird again.

" _His coworkers are on their way over here."_

" _Good. Maybe they can break through whatever has done this to him."_

" _Oh...golden eagles. On the badges! Duh."_

" _If you're right... Tim, the eagles are coming."_

"Eagles? They're coming? Here?"

" _Yes. Just wait. The eagles will be here."_

"No sharks?"

" _No. No sharks. Just the eagles. Why don't you just sit down here?"_

He wasn't sure about this. It seemed too good to be true after all the time he'd been trying to get away from the sharks.

He was so tired.

It wasn't safe to sleep, and he felt too jittery to sleep anyway. The bird/not-bird seemed trustworthy, but who could really be sure? He would wait until he was sure he'd be safe. He sat down, but he wasn't ready to relax. The bird/not-bird approached him again.

" _Agent McGee, I'd like to examine you fully. Will you let me?"_

"No. No...I don't want to lose anything else."

" _You won't. I promise."_

"No! No!" He stood up and backed away again until he hit the hard surface.

" _Okay. That's okay, Agent McGee. We'll wait for the eagles."_

He wouldn't sit down again. The bird/not-bird wasn't to be trusted, either. He stood against the hard surface, staring at the bird/not-bird and the dog. They were letting him stay where he was.

" _Agent McGee, what do you see when you look at me?"_

"Almost a bird...but not exactly. You don't have claws. A robin," he said warily.

" _And Officer Wood, here?"_

The bird/not-bird gestured to the dog.

"A dog. Like the other dogs, the ones who took my arms away."

" _And you had sharks after you? Any other animals?"_

He looked at the bird/not-bird and didn't answer.

Suddenly, there was an eagle! He was so excited to see the eagle. It said something, but he didn't understand it.

"Eagles! The eagles are here!" he said excitedly.

" _Tim, what happened to you?"_

It was one of the eagles. He couldn't stay back. He ran across the light and fell down in front of the eagles. He grabbed for the wings of the biggest eagle.

He was so tired.

"I was trying to get away from the sharks, but there were so many of them! So many and they were everywhere and I couldn't get out of the ocean! ...and then, the dogs...and they ate my arms and gave them back! ...and I'm so tired!"

The eagle crouched down in front of him.

" _Tim, how did you get away?"_

"I ran on the ocean and then dove in. I had to get away from their teeth."

" _We had a report of someone jumping into the Potomac and getting pulled out downstream. Shots fired."_

"I don't want...the... I'm so tired."

" _How long has it been since you slept, Tim?"_

"I had to get away from the sharks. They wouldn't let me sleep!"

" _He's been missing for nearly two weeks."_

" _It could be sleep deprivation, but they gave him something, too...unless your agent is drug addict."_

" _No, he's not."_

"I had to get away."

" _Yes, you did."_

Another eagle knelt down.

" _Probie, you're safe here. No one's getting in this place."_

" _Dr. Notham needs to examine you."_

"No! No! No! No!" He didn't want that.

" _Do you trust me, Tim?"_

"Yes. I trust the eagles."

There was a snort, almost like laughter.

" _I trust Dr. Notham."_

"The robin?"

One of the eagles laughed.

" _Yes. The robin."_

More laughter and the world got stranger. There were things he could almost see that he couldn't see. All the eagles started looking different than they should be.

"There are layers," he said. "Layers that I can't understand."

" _He'll help you with that."_

He thought about it.

"Can I sleep? Can he stop the pounding so I can sleep?"

He was so tired.

" _Yes, Agent McGee. I can help you with that. You just need to let me examine you...even if what I do seems strange to you."_

"I don't want to see the sharks again."

" _You won't."_

The bird/not-bird helped him stand and took him to a place where he could sit. He strapped something on his arm. There was a painful prick.

"Ow! No!"

" _Tim, it's all right. Just stay put."_

"But it hurt! Like before!"

" _It has to. It's only a little."_

He stayed put, but he didn't like it. He was feeling tense again. The bird/not-bird seemed more like a bird again and he didn't like that the dog was still there. ...but the eagles were there, too.

"I don't like this. I don't like this," he said. "I don't."

The biggest eagle sat down by him and protected him with its wing.

" _Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine."_

The bird/not-bird finally finished and left.

"I'm really tired."

" _You'll be able to sleep soon."_

Suddenly, he was somewhere else. It wasn't the light. It was quiet, and dim, and cool. The pounding was muted.

"Awake again, Tim?"

He looked at the eagle and it had an extra layer. Its voice wasn't the same.

"You sound different."

"Just relax and go to sleep. Everything can wait."

"I'm tired. I'm afraid of the sharks."

"No sharks here, and if they come, we'll stop them."

He looked around and saw that the eagles were all there, plus another bird, a duck...and something else. He couldn't figure out what the dark shape was, but he was so tired.

"Sleep, Tim. Don't worry. We can wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Nothing. Go to sleep."

He closed his eyes.

Then, suddenly, his body jerked and he was awake.

A hand held him down.

"Relax, Tim. It's all right."

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, his legs jerked again and he started to sit up.

That same hand.

"You're safe, Tim. Just go to sleep."

Trying to calm down, he lay there.

He closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

He woke up and looked around. This wasn't where he thought he would be. It looked like a hospital. It did _not_ look like that torture chamber he'd been in. And it didn't look like the ocean, either. ...now, why did he think he'd been on the ocean? Then, he remembered. The smugglers! He sat up quickly and started to get out of bed. He was feeling really jittery.

"Whoa, there, McGee. Stay where you are. Why are you already awake?"

Tim looked at Tony in confusion. It was like Tony had appeared out of nowhere. He forgot to try and get out of bed.

"Tony, where did you come from?"

"From right next to you, Probie. That's where. Someone's been right here the whole time."

"...why do I have this feeling that you're a bird? Why do I think you should have wings?"

"Because you're a loon, McGee. A total loon, but that's okay. We'll take it. Where were you going?"

"I need to tell Gibbs! Those guys...they were smugglers! I was checking out one of the containers and something...and..." He lost track of what he'd been saying. "...and there was something...else...and..."

"...and they found you."

"Yeah! They took me into this room and they wouldn't let me sleep!" Tim could feel his heart start pounding again. "They kept asking me questions about what was going on in the investigation and...and then..." He trailed off, unsure of what came next.

"Then, you were running from the sharks. It's okay."

Strangely enough, that sounded right. "How did you know?"

Tony smiled and gently kept Tim from getting out of bed.

"Tim, you got away from them, dove into the Potomac, almost got shot...well, you _did_ get shot but they were only grazes, shot one of them, ran down the middle of the Parkway screaming about sharks eating you and then, dogs taking your arms...and we finally caught up when you'd been taken to the secure wing of this hospital. They were ready to put you in a straightjacket!"

Tim stopped trying to get out of bed.

"Oh. Um...Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did I think there were sharks and birds and fish...and dogs?"

"Well, because your mind is apparently a zoo, but also because you were given an overdose of caffeine which kept you from sleeping and they had you for two weeks. We'd been searching the whole area, trying figure out where you were."

"Oh." Tim thought about that. "So...I was kind of nuts, huh?"

"Yeah, a little. The Metro police didn't appreciate being called dogs, by the way."

"It wasn't personal," Tim mumbled.

This was embarrassing.

Tony laughed.

"I know. So do they."

"Did you find them?"

"No. Not yet. Anything you can tell us?"

Tim thought, but his brain felt rather sluggish...and yet racing at the same time. Weird. There had to be _something_...but his heart was pounding and his brain was lagging behind.

"Uh...something...must be...I..."

"It's okay, Tim. You've only been sleeping for about twelve hours. We figured you'd be out for at least a full day. Honestly, we're just glad to have you back."

"Shipment!" Tim said suddenly. He tried to get up again and Tony pushed him back once more. "There's a shipment out of Baltimore! That's how they're getting everything out!"

"Do you know when?"

"No. I have no idea, but that gives us a place to start, at least!" He tried to get up again.

"Us? You're not going anywhere, Probie. You're staying right here until all those cobwebs are cleared out."

"No. No cobwebs. I didn't see any spiders," Tim said and then flushed at Tony's all-too-understanding smile.

"You're lucky that they didn't give you much more caffeine than they did. It was bad enough when you were just high on Caf-Pows!. This was lots worse."

"But, Tony!"

"No way, man," Tony said seriously. "You don't know what it was like, looking for you and not finding you. You have no idea how relieved we were when you showed up...and how bizarre it was to see you thinking we were eagles. You're not just up and leaving the hospital ten minutes after you woke up from all that...especially when it's clear that you're not really out of all that yet."

Tim sagged back.

"Two weeks. Everything just kind of blurred together. It wasn't time. It was just...pounding."

"Well, trust me. It was two weeks and you deserve to sit around and get better from that. So stay in bed. I'm going to go and get Ducky and we'll get to Baltimore, but _you_ will stay right here. Got it?"

Tony left the room before Tim could ask or say anything else. He tried to think back to that time when apparently everyone was manifesting themselves as various kinds of animals. He didn't really remember it. Just a flash here and there.

...but there was something else, right on the tip of his tongue, something important, and he really wanted to figure it out. He started to get up again, but the door opened again.

"Timothy?"

"Hey, Ducky," Tim said distractedly.

"You're sounding much more rational than you were, but you do need to stay in bed for now."

Tim smiled a little and let Ducky push him back down. That's what everyone kept saying to him.

"Ducky...what happened?"

"You were apparently suffering from extreme sleep deprivation, although it's unlikely you weren't sleeping at all, probably you had multiple microsleeps that lasted for a few seconds, but the caffeine you were given didn't help matters. Jethro said you were complaining of a pounding, and it was probably your heart working overtime. I understand that you put on quite the performance."

Tim flushed.

"Now, now, lad. Don't worry. Everyone knows that you weren't in control of yourself, although I'm relieved that you didn't kill yourself diving into the Potomac. You're lucky you didn't hit a rock."

Tim couldn't pull up a memory of doing that.

"I...I can't believe I really did that no matter _how_ crazy I was."

"There's a video of it on YouTube that you can watch at your leisure."

"What?"

"There were people around, Timothy, and they watched. I believe there is some significant screaming on the part of a few onlookers. One bystander actually pulled you out of the river when you appeared to be in great distress, but your captors were right behind you at that point. As near as we can tell, they were transporting you somewhere and you jumped out of the car and then jumped into the river."

"Oh. Huh."

"You have a few stitches on your back. You got a couple of grazes from their firing at you. It was fortunate that they missed. You must have been moving quite quickly."

Tim smiled a little. "I was so...afraid...of the sharks."

"Of course."

Tim still had that thing that was so important. Something to do with sharks.

"Why sharks, though?" Tim asked. "I can't imagine why I would have thought of them as sharks, but it's right there. I can still see them in my head. Sharks were after me, Ducky and..."

"Timothy, calm down. Relax. Everything will be fine."

"But we haven't caught them yet! And there's something important I'm not remembering! Something I _need_ to tell them, but..."

Ducky picked up Tim's arm and felt his pulse.

"Timothy, you need to _relax_. Your heart is beating quite fast enough as it is."

"Sharks!" Tim said suddenly. "That's it! Sharks! We were talking and Tony started saying something about loan sharks and..."

He got up again...and again, had Ducky force him to sit down again.

"Ducky! They need to know!"

"What?"

"It's really important! I need to tell them before they go to Baltimore! It's really really _really_ important and..."

"What is it, Timothy?"

"Uh..." Tim had to stop and think again because his mind wasn't moving at the same rate as his mouth was. "...this guy we were talking about him, and Tony said he was a loan shark and he was _there_!"

"Timothy..."

Tim tried to stand again.

"He was right there and they kept giving me funny-tasting water and he was there asking me questions I couldn't answer and..."

"Timothy!"

Tim finally stopped.

"What?"

"You need to _calm down_ ," Ducky said very slowly. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

"Calm down. Relax. You don't need to be working yourself up right now. Aren't you tired at all?"

"Uh...maybe? Should I be?"

Ducky chuckled a little.

"Tell me what they need to know and I'll pass on the message."

"No! I can't...I have to talk to Tony!"

"Very well. I'll call him, but you need to relax before your heart beats right out of your chest."

"Okay."

Ducky nodded, pulled out his phone and called. Tim fidgeted.

"Yes, Anthony, Timothy says there's something you need to know before you go to Baltimore. Yes, he's right here."

Ducky held out the phone. Tim snatched it and tried to ignore the pounding in his chest.

"Tony!"

" _What is it, McGee? What's going on?"_

"I remembered! That important thing! The thing you need to know that I found out when I was in the place with them. That really important thing! The part that I needed to tell you before that I just forgot about and then I remembered!"

"Timothy," Ducky warned.

Tim tried to get his mind in the same gear as his mouth.

"The loan shark!"

" _What?"_

"The guy! We talked to him. He worked in the...the...the resupply office! You said that he was a loan shark!"

" _The guy with the weird name? Lance Corporal Lance?"_

"Yes! That's him! That's who I mean! That's it!"

" _What about him? I was just kidding, Probie. He's not really a loan shark. He just acted like one."_

"He was there!"

" _Where?"_

"In the place that was...that I thought was part of the ocean...and I know it wasn't. The place where they were keeping me awake! That place! He was right there! He was the one who was giving me the funny-tasting water! Or he was there when they were giving me–"

" _Lance was in on it?"_

"If not, I don't know why he was there! Because he was! I saw him! Lots of times! I–"

Suddenly, the phone was plucked out of his hands.

"Anthony, is that sufficient for you?" Ducky asked. "Good. Timothy needs to rest."

"Ducky!" Tim protested. "There's more I could tell him! There's a lot more I could say!"

"Good luck," Ducky said and then hung up. "Timothy, you need to calm down and relax as I've said multiple times already. You're going to hurt yourself if you keep this up."

"But..."

"No! Lie down and rest!"

Tim let Ducky push him down. He stared up at the ceiling. There was a feeling in his chest.

"Pounding..."

"That's your heart and you need to let it slow down. It's been going fast enough already."

Tim took a deep breath and let it out. He lay there quietly for a while. The pounding lessened, and he didn't feel like he had to get all the words in the world out in two seconds.

"Sharks, dogs, birds. My mind is a weird place, Ducky."

"More than likely, but I don't think you need worry about your hallucinations."

"I've had lots of caffeine before."

"Not this much."

"There was this water that didn't taste right."

"They may have given the caffeine to you dissolved in liquid form, but they also gave you injections...at least a couple of times. They don't seem to have fed you much at all."

"I don't remember eating...but then, after a while, I don't remember much."

"Completely understandable."

Ducky let the conversation lag and silence reigned. Tim started feeling tired after a few minutes of lying quietly on the bed.

"I'm tired."

"Good. Go back to sleep, Timothy."

Tim closed his eyes.

But what about the case? What if–?

He opened his eyes and started to sit up.

"Ducky, I need to..."

Ducky patiently pushed him back down once again. "Sleep, Timothy. Just go to sleep. It all can wait until later."

"Okay."

Tim closed his eyes.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Sharks! There are sharks!" Tim said and sat up quickly, looking around the room in a panic. Heart pounding.

"Calm down, Probie!"

Tim's eyes settled on Tony again. He had appeared out of nowhere again...but this time, he wasn't alone. Ziva was sitting there as well.

"I thought I saw..." He stopped, realizing that what he thought was rather ridiculous.

"It is all right, McGee."

"Ziva...I...what... Where did you come from? Ducky was here."

"It's been a full day, Probie. You've been sleeping," Tony said with a smile. "Which is a _good_ thing...for everyone."

Ziva smiled as well.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Did you...find them? The sharks...no, the smugglers."

Tony's grin was much too wide.

"Please, Tony, don't make fun of me for this."

"I can't promise that, Probie. You should know that."

"Yeah, I know."

Tim leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

"Did you catch them?" he asked again.

"Yep. We got Lance...thanks to you remembering him," Tony said.

"And we found the shipment before it got too far out," Ziva said. "The Coast Guard was there to stop them."

"Good. I'm feeling a little less...freaked out than I was. Did I really sleep for a day?"

"Yes. You were completely zonked," Tony said.

"Dr. Notham said that you would be sleeping more when you were less hopped up on the caffeine," Ziva said.

"Man...caffeine," Tim said. "Too much of a good thing, I guess."

"Way too much of a good thing," Tony said.

"Yeah. Where's everyone else?"

"At work. We've been trading off to give your family a break. They've been pretty freaked out about where you were and what happened."

"Yeah...I was pretty freaked out, too, from what little I remember."

"Dr. Notham said you'd wake up when your body was ready for it."

"I guess so."

"Are you tired?"

"No. Not anymore. I feel kind of...worn out, though."

"I guess that goes along with everything you were doing. You really didn't see people?"

"Not that I remember. ...but I don't remember a lot of that. I don't remember seeing any people, though. Just...animals. Not sure why."

"No pink elephants?" Tony asked.

Tim laughed. "No. No elephants at all that I remember. Just the sharks...and dogs...and you guys were eagles."

Tony pulled out his badge.

"Golden eagles, according the cops who picked you up."

He handed it to Tim who looked at it.

"Golden eagles. My saviors. I knew the eagles could save me."

He looked up at Tony and Ziva.

"I knew I could trust you guys, even when I was out of my mind."

"Well, thanks," Tony said with a bow.

"So...how long will I be in here? Do you know?" Tim asked.

"Another day, probably," Ziva said. "They wanted to make certain that you are fully recovered."

"I could probably still sleep more," Tim said. "Even now."

"Feel free," Tony said. "You don't have to entertain us. Already did that."

Tim groaned.

"Do not let him fool you, Tim," Ziva said. "Tony was very worried all the time you were gone and he has barely left the hospital since we got here."

Tony shook his head.

"Don't read anything into that. It got me out of work."

"Thanks, Tony," Tim said. "Actually, thanks to everyone. I must have been really weird."

"Well, we didn't see you much when you were awake, but Metro will probably be talking about you for a while," Tony said. "It's a miracle you didn't get sideswiped by a car when you were running down the Parkway."

"Boats," Tim said softly. "They were boats full of screaming fish."

Tony chuckled and slugged Tim lightly on the shoulder.

"Good to have you back, McGee."

"And if you would like to sleep again, please do," Ziva said.

"Okay."

Tim closed his eyes.

"We'll keep the sharks away, Probie," Tony said.

Tim yawned.

"Thanks."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Two weeks later..._

"Please, Tony. What is so important that you have to blindfold me?" Tim asked.

Tony and Abby had come to his apartment that morning and had declared that it was a surprise and he couldn't look.

"You'll see."

The car finally came to a stop, and Tim could hear a lot of people around.

"Where are we, Abby?"

"You'll see," Abby said, but there was a distinct snicker in her voice.

"Boss!"

"Oh, no. Tony what _is_ this?" Tim asked.

"Keep walking, McGee. Trust me...or at least, trust Abby."

Tim let himself be pulled along by Tony and Abby.

After a few seconds, he stopped and he could hear lots of people around...and there was a smell in the air that was kind of familiar.

"Hey...where are we?"

"It's a special celebration in honor of your return to sanity."

"But I've been sane for days, Tony. This is nothing new!"

"Are you ready, Tim?" Ziva asked.

"Who is here besides half the world?"

"Just the important people," Abby said.

"Guess where you are, Probie."

"Where?"

"Guess!"

"You're at the zoo!"

That was not a voice he recognized. It was a child's voice.

"Chas, no! I'm sorry. Didn't mean to ruin your surprise."

"I'm at the zoo?" Tim asked.

"It's all right," Abby said. "We don't mind."

"I'm at the zoo?" Tim repeated. "Why?"

"'Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo,'" Tony sang.

Tim groaned and they finally let him take off the blindfold.

Yes. They were at the National Zoo.

"Come on, Probie! It'll be fun!"

Tim looked at Gibbs for help...and found none. He had a bunch of tickets in his hand and he raised an eyebrow.

"We've got the tickets," was all he said.

"Is this just an elaborate way of extending the teasing for my hallucinations?" Tim asked. "I have no idea why I saw the things I did. I've told you that already!"

"Actually, this is an elaborate way of saying that we're glad you're back and that you survived your experience with so little damage," Ducky said, putting a guiding arm around Tim's shoulders.

"Okay. You said it. Isn't that enough?"

"No! You've got to go see the animals. The real ones! Eagles?" Tony said.

"Tony..." Tim said weakly.

"It'll be lots of fun and I promise not to tease you...too much."

Tim sighed and then smiled.

"I guess it's all happening at the zoo," he said.

"I do believe it," Tony said back.

Tim laughed and let his friends lead him in.

It was nice to be visiting the zoo, not living in it.

...and at least there were no sharks there.

FINIS!


End file.
